Trolley stoker apparatus for kilns



April 29, 1969 s. F. JUDD TROLLEY ST'OKER APPARATUS FOR KILNS Sheet Filed July 19, 1967 INVENTOR S55/7577A# E JUDO S-{tr LLAA ATTORNEYS April 29, 1969 s.vF. JuDD TROLLEY STOKER APPARATUS FOR KILNS Sheet Filed July 19, 1967 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Apil 29, 1969 s. F. JUDD TROLLEY STOKER APPARATUS FOR KILNS led July 19, 1967 Sheet INVENTOR 555,457/,4/1/ A Ma Q om SWL... J (2.1.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,441,151 TROLLEY STOKER APPARATUS FOR KILNS Sebastian F. Judd, Whitesboro, N.Y., assignor to Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 19, 1967, Ser. No. 654,596 Int. Cl. F23k 3/60; B66c 17/08; F24c 15/02 U.S. Cl. 214-32 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus including a pair of overhead tracks extending about a vertical limestone box kiln, over which tracks a trolley is movable by motor to carry a suspended pneumatic Stoker tool to selected openings of the kiln. The Stoker tool is fed by motor along a guide channel to bring a Stoker bar into and out of a selected kiln opening. A piston hammer in the Stoker tool is pneumatically operable to pound the Stoker bar against clinkers formed in the kiln. The guide channel iS hydraulically pivotable selectively about vertical and horizontal axes of a turntable support to obtain various angular positions of the` Stoker bar in the kiln opening. A swivel connection of the turntable with the trolley permits each to be Swivelled relative to the other, so as to allow not only positioning of the Stoker tool relative to the kiln, but also travel of the trolley around corners of the kiln and parallel to its walls without danger of the apparatus carried by the trolley striking the walls. Controls for remote operation of various motors of the apparatus are mounted upon a rack depending from the guide channel at a desirable distance from the -kiln within easy reach of the operator.

Background of the invention This invention relates to the art of kiln Stoking devices. It is especially concerned with a remotely operable trolley movable Stoking apparatus that is pivotable about horizontal and vertical axes and has Special application to limestone box kilns.

Limestone box kilns are huge towering structures having a series of openings in their side walls for the admission of a Stoker bar to break up clinkers forming in the interior of the kiln during its operation. Clnkers prevent proper operation of the kiln and must be broken up. The general objective of this invention is to provide an improved and practical Stoker apparatus subject to remote control by an operator, )which can be moved about by trolley from opening to opening and cause entry of a Stoker bar into the kiln at various Selected angles to citeetively poke and break up the clinkers.

Summary of the invention In accordance Iwith the invention, there iS provided a trolley Stoker apparatus for Stoking clinkers in a vertical box kiln having openings in its side walls for admission of a Stoker bar into the interior of the kiln, comprising: an elevated pair of tracks supported in surrounding spaced relation to the kiln having linear sections of track parallel to the side walls of the kiln and curved sections of track connecting the linear sections around the corners of the kiln, a trolley ridable over the linear and curved sections of the tracks, a Stoker tool having an elongated Stoker bar and a piston hammer reciprocable to pound the bar, a turntable mounted to the underside of the trolley, means supporting the Stoker tool in Suspended relation to the turntable at a level at which the Stoker bar may be entered into any selected opening following movement of the trolley to a predetermined position along the tracks relative to the selected opening, the turntable having a 3,441,151 Patented Apr. 29, 1969 ice vertical swivel connection with the underside of the trolley allowing swivelling of each relative to the other in a horizontal plane as the trolley rides around a corner of the tracks, and means for selectively feeding the Stoker tool relative to the kiln so as to carry the Stoker bar into or out of the selected opening.

Brief description of drawings In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a trolley Stoker apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged right end fragmentary view of FIG. 1 with portions broken away for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 3 is a detail enlargement of the lower part of FIG. 2 sectioned to show the vertical pivot axis;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of FIG. l with portions broken away for clarity of illustration; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view directed to showing the tracks about the kiln.

Description of preferred embodiment of the invention In accompanying drawings is disclosed a conventional vertical limestone box kiln 10 having at a specific level in its several side walls 11 a series of conventional openings 12 to allow admission of a Stoker bar 13 to poke and break up clinkers formed in the kiln. Since a Stoker bar admitted to any one opening would cover only a limited conical area within the kiln as it is angularly moved about, a series of openings 12 are provided in the several walls of the kiln to obtain coverage of substantially all of its cross sectional interior area.

A pair of trolley tracks 14, rigidly suspended from an I-beam 15 mounted to a supporting ceiling structure 16, extends about the kiln in relatively close spaced relation to its walls. The tracks round the corners of the kiln, and run generally parallel to its side walls 11, as schematically Shown in FIG. 5.

A carriage or trolley 17 Suspended from the tracks is movable about the tracks under the power of a conventional reversible penumatic motor 18 having a driven sprocket wheel 19 cooperating with a Stationary rack or roll chain arrangement 21 so as to carry a pneumatic Stoker tool 22 toward and away from selected kiln openings 12. The trolley has a bed plate 23 of square form. A pair of upright brackets 24 mounted to the right side of the bed plate carries a pair of trolley wheels 25 engaged to ride in one of the track members; a similar pair of brackets 26 at the opposite side of the bed plate carries a pair of trolley wheels 27 engaged to ride in the other track member. The motor 18 is fixed to a bracket Support 28 mounted to the bed plate. The stationary rack 21 is mounted along the back of one of the track members. As the Sprocket wheel is driven by the motor over the rack, the trolley I17 is carried along with it.

Swivelly supported to the underside of the trolley is a circular turntable 29 suspended from which is a guide channel 31. To the underside of the latter, the Stoker tool 22 is mounted for relative guided parallel Sliding movement toward and away from the kiln. The turntable rests at its marginal under area upon a group of rollers 32, here four in number, spaced ninety degrees apart. Each roller is supported upon a depending portion of a Separate bracket 313 bolted to the center of a separate side of the trolley bed plate 23. The turntable swivels in a horizontal plane upon the rollers about a vertical axis provided by a pivot pin 34 (FIG. 2). The latter depends from the center of the underside of the trolley bed plate into a bushing 35 mounted in the center of the turntable. Mounted to the underside of the turntable is a hydraulic lock piston cylinder 36 having a piston 3-7 which is selectively extensible through an opening in the turntable to engage with pressure the underside of the trolley bed plate 23 so as to restrain or lock both the trolley and the turntable against relative swivel movement.

The turntable supports the guide channel 31 for pivoting of the latter in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis H-H and in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis V-V. To this end, the turntable includes a bracket defined by a pair of side plates 31S which depend rigidly from its underside in parallel spaced relation to each other. The side plates are of generally triangular contiguration having wide upper portions and relatively narrow lowermost portions 39. The forward end of the guide channel is located (FIGS. 1, 3) between the lowermost portions 39 of the side plates. Overlying the forward surface area of the guide channel is a pivot plate 41 having a flared rear portion 42 (FIG. 4) and a narrow rectangular forward portion 43. Part of the rectangular portion 43 extends between the side plates 318 of the tuntable, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 4. A pivot pin 44 delining the vertical axis V-V of the guide channel extends through the rectangular portion 43 of the pivot plate and through a solid front end portion 47 (FIG. 3) of the guide channel. The pivot pin 44 may be, as here, integral with a retainer plate 45 bolted to the surface of the pivot plate 41. The opposite flared end 42 of the pivot plate has an arcuate periphery 46 which is concentric with the axis V-V. A roller '50 carried by a bracket 48 iixed atop the guide channel overlies the marginal surface area of the pivot plate. Pivot plate 41 has a pair of arms 49 (FIGS. 2, 3) depending from the underside of its rectangular portion 43 in par'allel relation to the turntable side plates 3181. The arms 49 are pivotally supported to the side plates 38 of the turntable by means of a pair of pivot pins 51 deiining the horizontal axis H-H for the guide channel. The guide channel rests upon a flat surface provided by a plate 40 fixed between arms 49. A lift piston cylinder 52 is pivotally anchored at one end 53 to the underside of the turntable 29, and has a piston rod 54 at its opposite end pivotally anchored to a bracket 55 fixed to the surface of the pivot plate 41. The piston cylinder 52 is hydraulically operable to pivot or lift the pivot plate and the guide -channel 31 as a unit a vertical plane about the axis H-H provided by pins `51. The guide channel has a range of angular movement about its horizontal axis from a position about four degrees below, to a position of about sixteen degrees above horizontal.

A swing piston cylinder 516 is pivotally anchored at one end to a bracket 57 depending from an overhanging side l58 (FIGS. l, 4) of the pivot plate and is pivotally anchored at its other end by means of its piston rod 59 to a side bracket 61 of the guide channel 31. The swing piston cylinder is hydraulically operable to swing the guide channel in a horizontal plane about the pin 44 dening its vertical axis V-V. There is adequate clearance as indicated at '62 (FIG. 3) between the sides of the guide channel 31 and the depending arms 49` of the pivot plate to allow desirable relative swinging of the guide channel. In this movement, the guide channel swings about pin 44 relative to the pivot plate 41, and as it does so the roller 50 rides over the marginal surface of the ared portion 42 of thepivot plate. It is apparent that if the swing cylinder is actuated to swing the channel more than enough to take up the clearance 62 that the channel will act through the side plates 38 to also swivel the turntable. Accordingly, when this is not desired, the piston cylinder 36 may be actuated to lock the turntable to the trolley bed plate.

The stoker tool 22' is mounted by means of a slidable saddle 63 to the underside of the guide channel for guided linear sliding movement along the channel to carry the stoker bar 13 into and out of a selected opening 12 of the kiln. The saddle 63 is anchored in conventional manner to a sprocket feed chain 64 which is movable over sprockets 65 at opposite ends of the guide channel by means of a main sprocket 66 powered by a reversible motor 67 clamped fast to the surface of the guide channel. The

Stoker tool 22, together with the stoker bar 13 are carried by the feed chain mechanism toward or away from the kiln accordingly as the feed motor 67 is driven in one direction or the other. The motor 67 is of a conventional pneumatic type.

The Stoker bar 13 is relatively long so that it may be projected adequately into the depts of the kiln to accomplish the objective of poking and breaking up clinkers. Here, the box kiln is about twenty feet square; and the bar has a stroke of about ten or eleven feet. The bar extends parallel to the guide channel and is at all times supported and guided in its linear movement relative to the guide channel by means of a guide bushing 68 (FIGS. 1, 2) provided in a depending portion of a bracket 69 iixed to the front end of the guide channel. In the fully retracted position of the Stoker tool, as in FIG. l, the end of the stoker bar is clear of the walls of the kiln. The stoker tool is suspended from the turntable to a level at which the stoker bar may be entered into any selected opening 12 of the kiln, the openings all being at about the same level. The tracks are positioned relatively close to the Walls of the kiln, as appears in FIGS. 1 and 5, so as to position the end of the stoker bar in a fully retracted condition of the Stoker tool relatively close to the entrance of a selected opening. Here, it is shown in FIG. 1 as being around eight inches clear of the opening. The vertical axis V--V is on a line perpendicularly bisecting the horizontal axis H-H. This point of intersection is relatively close to the kiln opening.

The stoker tool 22 is a conventional crust breaker type of pneumatic tool having the usual pneumatically reciprocable piston hammer 70' functioning to repeatedly pound a work steel which, in this case, is the Stoker bar 13.

A group of controls generally indicated at 71 for effecting remote operation of the various motors and hydraulic cylinders of the apparatus are mounted upon a control bracket 72 depending from the guide channel at a desirable safe distance from the kiln. The bracket carries remote controls for the lock piston, lift, and swing cylinders 36, 52 and 56, the trolley and feed motors 18 and 67 and the stoker tool 22. Bracket 72 comprises a pair of parallel spaced uprights 73 joined by a crosspiece 74 at their lower ends and by means of a bridge piece 75 at their upper ends. The bracket is releasably clamped by means of the bridge piece at 76 to the guide channel. The clamped condition may be released to permit slidable adjustment of the bracket 72 along the channel to a selected position. The controls 71 are positioned upon the bracket within easy reach of an operator from the oor F. When the turntable piston lock 36 is in released condition, the turntable may be swivelled relative to the trolley about the pivot 34. To this end, the operator may apply a manual pushing force in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction upon the control bracket 72 to swivel the turntable. This could also be done `by actuating the swing cylinder 56 suiciently to force a front side area of the channel against an arm 49 of the pivot plate 41 and thereby swing the turntable on its pivot 35 through the plates 38.

To position the Stoker tool opposite a selected kiln opening 12, the operator actuates the trolley motor 18 to carry the trolley over the tracks 14 to the selected opening. The operator may then swing the turntable as needed to align the Stoker bar 13 with the selected opening. The operator then operates the stoker tool feed motor 67 and causes flow of operating air to the Stoker tool 22 to respectively feed the stoker bar into the opening and to cause the piston hammer 70 of the tool to repeatedly pound the bar when the latter is entered into the opening. The operator selectively operates the lift and swing cylinders 52 and 56 to vary the angular direction of movement of the stoker bar in the kiln. By skillful manipulation of the controls of the lift and swing cylinders, a coned area may be covered by the stoker bar in its movements within the kiln to poke and break up any clinkers in that area. The minor diameter of this coned area will be at about the mouth of the kiln opening and its major diameter will be within the kiln. It can be seen that by moving the apparatus over the tracks progressively from one opening to the next around the kiln, all of the kiln openings may be utilized and su-bstantially the entire cross sectional interior area of the kiln may be operated upon by the Stoker bar. Accordingly, it becomes unnecessary to have more than one Stoker tool and operator to break up the clinkers in the kiln. During the time the stoker bar is operating within the kiln, the turntable 29 may be locked to the trolley 17 by means of the piston lock 36 so as to avoid relative vibratory swivelling of the turntable. When the trolley is to travel about a corner of the tracks, the locked condition of the turntable may be released so as to permit the trolley and turntable to swivel relative'to one another and thereby facilitate movement of the trolley around the corner. The locked condition of the turntable may -be released when the trolley is to ride over the tracks so as to permit the operator manually by means of the control bracket 72 or by means of the swing cylinder 56 to swing the turntable about its pivot to prevent the rear of the guide channel 13 from Striking the kiln walls 11.

What is claimed is:

1. A trolley Stoker apparatus for stoking clinkers in a vertical box kiln having openings in its side walls for admission of a Stoker bar into the interior of the kiln, comprising: an elevated pair of tracks supported in surrounding spaced relation to the kiln having linear sections of track parallel to the side walls of the kiln and curved sections of track connecting the linear Sections around the corners of the kiln; a trolley ridable over the linear and curved sections of the tracks; a Stoker tool having an elongated Stoker bar, and a piston hammer reciprocable to pound the bar; a turntable mounted to the underside of the trolley; means supporting the Stoker tool in suspended relation to the turntable at a level at which the stoker bar may be entered into any selected opening following movement of the trolley to a predetermined position along the tracks relative to the selected opening, the turntable having a vertical swivel connection with the underside of the trolley allowing swivelling of each relative to the other in a horizontal plane as the trolley rides around a corner of the tracks; and means for selectively feeding the stoker tool relative to the kiln so as to carry the stoker bar into or out of the selected opening.

2. A trolley Stoker apparatus as in claim 1, wherein a motor mounted to the trolley has driven sprocket means cooperable with rack means about the tracks for driving the trolley along the tracks.

3. A trolley Stoker apparatus as in claim 1, having power operable lock means for selectively locking the turntable to the trolley in any selected relative angular position against swivelling of one relative to the other.

4. A trolley Stoker apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the means supporting the Stoker tool in suspended rela` tion to the turntable includes a guide channel upon which the Stoker tool is mounted for guided slidable movement therealong relative to the kiln, a bracket fixed to the underside of the turntable, rst pivot means supporting a forward end of the channel to the bracket for pivotal movement in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis; and power means for pivoting the channel about the horizontal axis.

5. A trolley Stoker apparatus as in claim 4, wherein second pivot means is provided supporting the forward end of the channel to the bracket for pivotal movement in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis, and other power means is provided for swinging the channel about the vertical axis independently of movement of the channel about its horizontal axis.

6. A trolley Stoker apparatus as in claim 5, wherein the horizontal and vertical axes are mutually perpendicular to one another at a point in close proximity to the forward end of the channel.

7. A trolley Stoker apparatus as in claim 4, wherein the means for selectively feeding the Stoker tool relative to the kiln is a motor mounted upon the channel having a chain and sprocket drive connection with the Stoker tool for feeding the latter along the channel.

8'. A trolley Stoker apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the piston hammer is pneumatically reciprocable.

9. A trolley stoker apparatus as in claim 4, wherein the Stoker tool has a retracted condition at the rear of the channel in which condition the free end of the Stoker bar is at the forward end of the channel in relatively close proximity to the exterior of the kiln.

10. A trolley Stoker apparatus as in claim 5, wherein a control supporting bracket depends from the channel at a preselected adjustable position relative to the ends of the channel carrying remote operating controls for the apparatus.

11. A trolley Stoker apparatus for stoking clinkers developing in the interior of a kiln having a Succession of openings in its side wall area for admission of a Stoker bar into the interior of the kiln, comprising: an elevated pair of tracks supported in spaced relation to the side Wall area of the kiln, a pneumatic Stoker tool having an elongated Stoker bar and a piston hammer reciprocable to pound the Stoker bar, a power operable trolley, suspension means Supporting the Stoker tool to the trolley having a vertical swivel axis connection with the trolley, the trolley being movable along the tracks to position the Stoker tool opposite a selected opening, power means for feeding the Stoker tool relative to the suspension means and to the kiln So as to carry the Stoker bar through the selected opening into the interior of the kiln, and power means for effecting selective pivoting of the stoker tool in horizontal and vertical planes relative to the kiln about axes perpendicular to one another.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1914 Gill 126-173 XR 4/1923 Bradley 214-23 XR 

